Adolescents' Experiences of Hate Speech and Psychological Needs: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents are increasingly exposed to hate speech in both online and offline contexts, yet limited research has examined how such exposure is experienced and how it relates to adolescents' psychological needs and well-being. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this study explores how adolescents make sense of hate speech and how these experiences affect autonomy, competence, and relatedness in everyday peer and digital environments. METHODS: Ten focus groups were conducted with 46 Swedish upper secondary school students (girls and boys) aged 16-19 years. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis within a critical realist framework, allowing for an in-depth exploration of shared patterns of meaning across school-based and online contexts. RESULTS: Four interrelated themes were developed. Omnipresence of hate speech captured adolescents' experiences of hate speech as difficult to avoid and emotionally draining. Ambiguity of hate speech highlighted challenges in distinguishing hate speech from jokes, memes, or peer-based humor, complicating moral evaluation and response. Conformity to hate norms illustrated how social pressures encouraged tolerance of or participation in hostile talk to maintain belonging, often at the expense of autonomy. Finally, online-specific dynamics showed how anonymity and normalization facilitated hostile behavior, discouraged intervention, and undermined adolescents' sense of competence. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents experience hate speech as ambiguous, normalized, and difficult to resist, with clear implications for their autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The findings demonstrate how exposure to hate speech can shift motivation toward controlled regulation or disengagement, highlighting the importance of interventions that strengthen adolescents' psychological needs in both peer and digital contexts.